An Argument for Hiring Recently Laid-Off Federal Workers at Your Hotel

As the federal government contracts, thousands of people are entering the job market and competing for jobs in many of the economy’s sectors.

Gov. Wes Moore made it clear that Maryland will attempt to hire many federal workers who have lost their jobs in recent weeks. The same is the case with leaders in the nation’s capital.

As a hotel leader, you may be connected enough that you can reach out to someone in your network who you know has been laid off recently. In any case, you may find yourself with applicants from the federal government. Those men and women may require some extra thought given the relatively unique circumstances they are coming from.

Government workers are used to public service

In many cases, the reason that people choose the government did so because they did not want to have their duties whittled down to making profit for shareholders each and every day for years on end. Hotels aren’t funded the same way as any government agency, but they do in fact deal with the public and they do provide some public benefits under the right circumstances. You will want to play those benefits up, and get creative about the ways to get those former government employees involved in the community if they care about that.

Policy and procedure will no doubt be important

All sectors of government involve a good deal of red tape. That tape is a hindrance in many ways, but they serve to make it clear that there are checks and balances throughout the government to avoid waste and corruption, among other concerns. GovLeaders say that it’s especially important to waste for applicants

Stress the opportunity to contribute to a bigger cause

You can’t replicate some features of government work, but if the people who are applying have a passion for public service, you can sell them on some of the ways your hotel serves the city/county and surrounding community. For example, if your business has a scholarship or stressed community service among employees, you should make that clear. If you can figure out what they care about, you can tailor how you frame the company and work to what you think might pique their interest.

Work-life balance will also be key

You’lll have to remember that many of these workers have seen their lives flipped upside down given the unprecedented speed of recent actions at the federal level. One of the ways you can entice folks is by letting them know that they don’t have to be worried about receiving calls and emails and Teams/Slack messages every day and on holidays. If you know these people appreciate going home and leaving their work where they can, assure them that it’s something you care about. It’s smart to try and meet those desires now, since they aren’t changing.

Court cases mean some of the old jobs may get restored, so be prepared

As DOGE and the White House personnel have sought to cut staff across the board, there have been judges at the federal level who have decided that the cuts happened too quickly or were on false pretenses. In response, the administration has restored thousands of jobs. It may well be that the wheels of justice turn too slowly for people to wait, so they may end up applying where you are.